Rambling in the Mountains
by Le Belle Dame Sans Merci
Summary: *This story was recently under my old penname Gabrielle-AngelofTruth* Poor little Bella just can't catch a break. First she's left at the altar for the third time! , then all her luggage is lost. What can happen next? Well I guess Bella will find out, right after she finds out who the naked guy is in her shower.
1. The Altar and the Shower

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Cast, Stephanie Meyer does, nor do I own the song 'Give me a sign', Breaking Benjamin does. As you can see, I own nothing. ;_;**

**This story is one I started a long time ago. I'm hoping to breathe some new life into it.**

Bella Swan's Mental Ramblings: When life throws crap your way, duck!

The snow on the ground gleamed in the sun and crunched as I hurried up the walkway. It was freezing cold and my thin sweater and designer down jacket weren't cutting it. 'Well, you weren't supposed to be walking up the walkway by yourself,' I thought, 'You were supposed to have a nice warm husband with you.' I willed the tears from falling as pain lanced through my heart. Ignoring it, I hurried to the door and knocked. A strong gust of wind blew the snow from the ground onto me, causing it to go down my sweater. I shrieked at the extra coldness and shook it out of my clothes. 'Bella, my girl,' my internal voice glum and dejected, 'the next time someone asks you to marry them, run.' I nodded, agreeing with my inner self. That sounded like great advice.

Today had started out great, but quickly descended to bad then worst. I woke up yesterday morning with my heart elated. It was the day I was going to marry the man I loved, Jacob Black. I spent the morning getting ready, loving the feeling of nervous excitement that filled me. Sadly, God must have decided that today was 'Let's-screw-with-Bella Day' and my day turned to crap. When I got to the church, I was told that my fiancé had not arrived AND that neither Quil nor Embry, Jake's groom's men, had heard from him since the night before. We waited for him for hours. The whole time I silently prayed that he had decided to take a walk, got jumped, and was lying unconscious in a gutter somewhere. I knew it wasn't right, but I just hoped that there was a reason, other than him leaving me at the altar, for him not to be here.

After accepting that he had indeed left me at the altar, I got in a cab and went back to my hotel. As I had packed my bags, I cried and cursed Jacob, that evil lying rat bastard. My phone had rung off the hook with calls from family and friends, asking if I was okay. 'Oh, definitely,' I had thought as I angrily threw clothes into my suitcase,' it's just my third time getting left at the altar. No biggie!' I left the hotel and headed to the airport. Jacob and I were supposed to be going to a private cottage we had rented in the mountains for our honeymoon, but Jacob's not here, so I had decided to go and enjoy myself. Plus everything was charged to his credit card. 'Take that, you jerk!'

That's how I ended up out in the snow, freezing my butt off. A clearing of a throat pulled me back to the present and startled me. The door was open and in the doorway stood a giant. Tall and heavily-muscled, with a kind face and curly brown hair, he smirked at the blush that spread to my cheeks from the shock of his sudden appearance.

"Hello. Welcome to Lunta Manor. I'm Emmett and I will be your butler for the duration of your stay," he said, as he smiled and bowed, "may I take your bags?" He looked down and I did too, praying my bags would suddenly appear. Sadly, they did not. Emmett looked at me.

"They got lost in Forks Airport. All I have is my carry on," I said with a blush, "I'm Bella Swan, by the way." He smiled.

"Well, come on in, Ms. Swan." He gestured for me to enter. I walked in and sighed in relief when he closed the door. I slipped out of my jacket. Emmett took it and placed it on a coat rack. "I've got to go to the kitchen and let my wife, she's the cook, know you're here. She'll make you something to warm you up." I smiled my gratitude. "Just take these stairs upstairs. The master bedroom is the third door on the right."

"Thanks," I said as I started up the stairs. Finding the master bedroom was simple. I walked in and squealed. The bed was huge with a lot of pillows. I dropped my carry-on bag and run to jump on the bed. I sunk into it and giggled like a preteen. 'Jake, you may be a rat bastard, but you're a rat bastard with great taste.'

"- falling away. No longer the lost, no longer the same and I can feel you starting to break. I keep you alive, if you show me the way. Forever and ever, the scars will remain. I'm falling apart; leave me here forever in the dark."

'WTH?' I sat up, ignoring the tingles that run up my back. My slow brain finally registered the sound of running water. SOMEONE WAS IN MY SHOWER! 'Yeah, with a voice that makes you shiver.' Telling my inner voice to stuff it, I walked to the bathroom. When I opened the door, a wall of steam enveloped me.

"-dies, black out the skies. Does anyone care? Is anybody there? Take this life, empty inside. I'm already dead; I'll rise to fall again." His words filled my heart with sorrow and my eyes began to tear. Because the door was open, some of the steam began to clear and I was able to see him through to glass of the shower. My eyes bugged and my bottom jaw practically hit the ground. He was gorgeous. Well, the back of him was. He had a lean back made for running your fingernails across and a cute butt. His muscles rippled as he washed. I felt like such a perv, but, like at a bad accident, I couldn't make myself turn away. In my pervy little head, I prayed that God would be gracious to me and let him turn around. God heard my desperate plea and the gorgeous guy in the shower turned to rinse the shampoo from his hair, with his eyes closed. 'Thank God for small mercies!' I swear I wept with joy. The front view was as amazing as the back. Water fell down skin that tightened around muscles. I stood there wishing I could lick the water off.

Then, he opened eyes. We stood there staring at each other. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks and a blush forming. Ducking my head, I muttered an 'I'm sorry' and rushed from the bathroom. As I ran, I heard footsteps behind me. "Hey, wait," he called. 'Oh, my gosh, he's following me!' I shrieked and ran faster. I flew down the steps and finally, I was on the ground floor, but then something really bad happened. The lights went out and that wouldn't have been a problem, but… I'm afraid of the dark. I swear my scream could have awoken the dead.

**And that is the first chapter! Who is the hottie in the shower and why is he following Bella? Please review.**


	2. The End and the Dark

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Cast, Stephanie Meyer does, and I still don't own 'Give me a sign' by Breaking Benjamin. Crap.**

**This chapter begins with Edward arriving at the Manor. Enjoy!**

Bella Swan's Mental Ramblings: Never ask if your day can get any worse than it already is, because, believe me, it most definitely can.

EPOV

I was welcomed to Lunta Manor by a tiny little thing. She was 5 feet, tops. She looked like a little girl in a pink frilly dress, but the way she carried herself and the black spikey bob she was sporting told of the woman she was (the curves that pleasantly filled out her dress might have helped too). Seeming to be in constant motion, she smiled at me, dragging one from me in response. "Hi! I'm Alice and I'm the maid. Welcome to Lunta Manor, Mr. …?"

"Masen, Edward Masen and please, call me Edward," I replied, having just caught up with what she was saying. 'Man, she talks fast.'

"Well, Edward, why don't you come in? I'll show you to your room and then go let Rose, the chef, know she can get started on dinner." I nodded in agreement and walked in. Since I only had one suitcase, I carried it in myself. She led me to the master bedroom, which, sadly, was much bigger than my room in my apartment. 'Geez, who need this much room just to sleep?'

Letting me know that she would let me know when it was time to eat, she left in a blur of pink and black. I sat on the bed and pushed my suitcase underneath it.

Will had been right. I needed this vacation. Having started working vice six months ago, something had been off about me. My new position had some positive and negative effects on my life. Too bad the negative outweighed the good. Good: I was making more money. Bad: I started to have nightmares about my cases; I was only home for small intervals of time; my girlfriend of two years left me. Just thinking about Tanya made me feel angry and hurt. I lay back as I thought about the day she left.

[Flashback]

I had just got home from work. I was tired and just wanted to feel Tanya in my arms. In the case I had been working, women who were married or in a relationship were disappearing and turning up murdered. We sent an agent in undercover and almost lost her. Catching the creep had made me need Tanya like crazy. When I walked into our apartment, my heart almost stopped. There were suitcases sitting at the door and Tanya was walking out of our room with another one and her keys in hand. When she saw me standing there, she blushed at being caught, but still looked me in the face.

"Tanya, what are you doing," I said, demanding she answer me.

"I'm leaving Edward. I…I just can't do this anymore," she replied.

"What do you mean you can't 'do this' anymore?"

"I mean I can't be with you anymore. You've changed Edward, and I can't stay with you any longer. You're not the man I fell in love with anymore."

"So when were you going to tell me?" She blushed and her face told me her answer.

"After I got home, right? After you had a chance to escape? You know what, Tanya? I can't do this anymore, either!" 'Liar,' I thought to myself. "Leave, if that's what you want to do. I won't stop you." I could see that the cold tone of my voice and the blank mask that I let show on my face hurt her, but I didn't care. 'My pain's worse than hers.'

[End flashback]

After she left, all I focused on cases with a sick obsession. Nothing mattered anymore. Just work, work, work. Then, Will told me he was making me take a vacation from work. Thus, I was here.

Feeling a little grimy from the ride on the plane, I walked into the bathroom to take a shower. After undressing, I turned the water to extremely hot, just like I liked it. I got in and began to wash. Being among the hordes of people who sing in the shower, I began to sing.

"Dead star shine, Light up the sky

I'm all out of breath, my walls are closing in

Days go by, Give me a sign

Come back to the end, the shepherd of the damned

I can feel you falling away, No longer the lost

No longer the same, and I can see you starting to break

I'll keep you alive, if you show me the way

Forever and ever, the scars will remain

I'm falling apart; leave me here forever in the dark

Daylight dies, black out the sky

Does anyone care? Is anybody there?

Take this life, empty inside

I'm already dead; I'll rise to fall again."

I stopped singing so I could rinse the shampoo from my hair without getting soap in it. I stopped moving when I felt a slight cold breeze blew across my legs. Opening my eyes, I was shocked. A woman stood there, watching me shower. Wearing a cream sweater and skinny jeans that clung to her like they never wanted to let go, she stood frozen. Chocolate eyes stared into mine as a blush swept her skin. Her long hair, a curtain of brown silk, fell and hid her face as she ducked her head. "I'm sorry," she muttered, her voice low and sultry, then, she ran. Mumbling a curse under my breath, I rushed out of the shower, shoved on my jeans, and ran after her. "Hey, wait," I called, trying to run a little faster, but when running on a freezing hardwood floor, with wet feet, speeding up was an epic fail. I heard her shriek as she rushed down the stairs and I mumbled a curse under my breath. I had just reached the stairs when the power went off. A banshee scream ripped through the house.

[BPOV]

'Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man,' I chanted over and over in my head. Man did I hate the dark. I was just glad that it wasn't the bottomless-pit black, where you can't see your hand a centimeter in front of your face. That might have killed me. A sound sent me from slight panic to full-on terror. Then, dear God, something grabbed my arm. I let loose another scream and tried to swing at what had taken hold of me. I must have landed a hit somewhere good, because I heard a muttered curse. I swung again.

"Stop your ridiculous swinging, woman," the thing that had me growled at me. When I shiver ran down my spine, I remembered the man I had been so pervishly watching shower, who, after catching me and me fleeing the scene of my peeping tom crime, had chased after me. 'What if he's a serial killer,' I thought in horror. 'Then he's a hot serial killer,' inner Bella replied. I agreed, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"Let me go," I cried as I swung at him again. Somehow he caught my hand, then, he backed me up against the wall by the foot of the stairs and forced both of my hand above my head.

"I said stop trying to hit me. I'm really not into having fists collide with my face ," he said, his voice full of annoyance.

"Yeah, well, I don't like to be grabbed by strange men, so I'm going to hit you until you release me," I replied. I looked at my hands, "Well, I was going to, but as you can see, that's not a possibility now." I had to avoid looking at the outline of his face or else I was going to try to recall it and that would bring back memories of water tumbling down a muscled chest to firm abs to…. I felt myself begin to blush and, for once, was glad for the darkness.

He chuckled. "Thank God that's not a possibility. That last one you landed hurt like crazy." I smiled. 'Good shot!' inner Bella cheered. "Now, I have a question to ask you," he started.

I rolled my eyes. "If you must."

"Oh I must," he replied, "You see this is very important information that I'm trying to figure out."

"Oh really? What information could you possible want from me?"

"Who are you and why were you watching me shower," he asked.

'Oh,' I thought,' that information.' My blush intensified.

**Poor Edward. That Tanya is a bitch. How will Bella explain her little pervy moment? As always, please review!**


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